Richard Wilson: On The Road

Much loved actor, RICHARD WILSON, most famously known for playing the grumpy retiree, Victor Meldrew in One Foot in the Grave, is taking to the road in this six part series based on The Shell travel guides. The quirky guides were first published in the 1930s to cater for the young motorists who were using their newly acquired cars as a means of discovering the British countryside, previously only accessibly by foot, bus and train.

Richard goes behind the wheel of his 1960s vintage Daimler, which he has christened “Deborah”, to explore six of the counties (DERBYSHIRE, DURHAM, DORSET, ESSEX, DEVON, OXFORDSHIRE) to see if the places they depict still exist today.

Always keen to get involved Richard tastes local delicacies, goes behind the scenes of country houses and discovers the towns, villages, countryside and coast.

Episode 1: Derbyshire
Driving in Derbyshire, Richard investigates what has changed from his 1930s Shell Guide and learns about the Kinder Scout uprising that led to the freedom to roam the Derbyshire Dales. He visits an animal sanctuary and gets to feed the otters and calls in at the historic towns of Buxton and Bakewell and turns his hand to cooking one of their famous puddings.

Episode 2: Durham
The 1937 Shell Guide is helping Richard explore Durham. He investigates the county’s history of coal and goes down the last surviving pit, then blasts out a tune on the organ in the city’s ancient Cathedral, before visiting the 200 acre deer park at Raby Castle in Teesdale.

Episode 3: Dorset
With his 1936 guide on board , Richard is exploring the beautiful county of Dorset. His first stop off is to the coast at Studland where there’s a surprising encounter with a local. Then it’s off to the Jurassic coast with its impressive 180 million year geological history.

Episode 4: Essex
Following the 1968 guide to Essex, Richard finds a very different place to the latter day flashy stereotypical image of the county. He visits the historic town of Colchester to see an archaeological dig on the high street and travels to Mersea Island where he goes oyster fishing on a boat.

Episode 5: Devon
Richard is in Devon with the 1936 guide and get’s a birds eye view of the town of Torquay, visits Dame Agatha Christie’s home on the English Riveria, meets one of Devon’s oldest families and drives “Deborah the Daimler” to the Dartmoor.

Episode 6: Oxfordshire
Richard is following the Shell Guide to Oxfordshire, which excluded the famous city and concentrated on the wealth of other sights in the county on offer. He drives to Henley on Thames and visits one of the most famous rowing clubs in the world. Then he calls in to the village of Bampton, which doubles up as the village of Downton in the popular TV series.